SRD Posted 23 April , 2012 Share Posted 23 April , 2012 I think I know a little more about this one, I think he's Sidney Philip Haines and he may have been a tailor in the army. I wasn't aware that the army had tailors, were they a special unit or did every regiment have such housekeeping personnel? I know the picture is poor but with your past performance I'm sure you can help with any details. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
battiscombe Posted 23 April , 2012 Share Posted 23 April , 2012 I have come across tailors within artillery units and i think all units would have them amongst their men - as with cooks. They would have normal ranks i believe, depending on their unit. So artillery tailors might be 'gunners'. Any idea of this regiment? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRD Posted 23 April , 2012 Author Share Posted 23 April , 2012 Not really; I think he was living in Sussex at the time of his enlistment, and, if it is Sidney Philip, that he continued his trade after leaving the army, there are witnesses still alive who remember him sitting cross-legged in his shop window in Fittleworth, Sussex. But somewhere down the line they came from the Channel Islands. I presume the stripe on his upper arm means he is a corporal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daggers Posted 23 April , 2012 Share Posted 23 April , 2012 Lance corporal, not the full deal. On a lighter note, the old Peter Simple column in the Telegraph used to feature the fictitious Army Tailoring Corps, possibly where the impossible General Nidgett served his time. D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mk VII Posted 23 April , 2012 Share Posted 23 April , 2012 Most units had recourse to altering the issued clothing to fit men better, as well as making repairs. A man who had been a tailor in civilian life would be a natural for this role. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FROGSMILE Posted 23 April , 2012 Share Posted 23 April , 2012 I think I know a little more about this one, I think he's Sidney Philip Haines and he may have been a tailor in the army. I wasn't aware that the army had tailors, were they a special unit or did every regiment have such housekeeping personnel? I know the picture is poor but with your past performance I'm sure you can help with any details. Each infantry battalion and cavalry regiment had a tailor on its establishment (rank ranged up to sergeant initially) and he was assisted by boy soldiers as apprentices. I do not know specifically about the artillery establishment, as they were much smaller in number in terms of the men in a battery, which was the normal and semi autonomous unit, but I have no doubt that they had something similar. Sidney is a Lance Corporal (an appointment and not a rank at that time - in practice a kind of 'trusty' for overseeing menial tasks and generally assisting the Corporals). He seems to be in a 'Service' (i.e. war raised) battalion but I cannot make out his cap badge. Can you try and focus in on it and post just a head shot? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRD Posted 23 April , 2012 Author Share Posted 23 April , 2012 Best I can do I'm afraid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tipperary Posted 23 April , 2012 Share Posted 23 April , 2012 could he possibly be Philip Sidney Haines 4981 Royal West Surrey Reg.john He is looking like your man a tailor by trade enlisted at 39 in 1915 discharge 1917 no longer fit from labour corps.about 4 pages on ancestry no service overseas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David B Posted 23 April , 2012 Share Posted 23 April , 2012 My g/father was a fully accredited tailor in the RA and he became RSM but I would be certain that by then he didn't do any tailoring. I suspect it would have been to earn a little pocket money on the side.The certificate pasted in his records states that he had passed his examination áccording to the provisions of the regulations relating to master tailors and has been found qualified to perform the duties of a master tailor to a battery of artillery Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRD Posted 23 April , 2012 Author Share Posted 23 April , 2012 could he possibly be Philip Sidney Haines 4981 Royal West Surrey Reg.john He is looking like your man a tailor by trade enlisted at 39 in 1915 discharge 1917 no longer fit from labour corps.about 4 pages on ancestry no service overseas He could well be, is the cap badge anything like suitable for the Royal West Surrey Reg? Looking at the records on Ancestry at some point he made Sjt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stoj22 Posted 24 April , 2012 Share Posted 24 April , 2012 Here's some army tailors, the back mentions 3/11 Londons cheers, Steve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
centurion Posted 24 April , 2012 Share Posted 24 April , 2012 There is a photo on the Edwardian period of the tailors of a household regiment busy sewing. They are wearing aprons and are in civilian clothes. Whether this was merely their working garb or whether civilian tailors were employed by the regiment is not stated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stoppage Drill Posted 24 April , 2012 Share Posted 24 April , 2012 Tailors shops staffed by serving soldiers lasted until the 1970's at least in Guards battalions, the "Master Stitch" usually being a c/sgt. I remember seeing them sitting cross legged on top of their workbenches in the traditional tailor style. This was all probably indicative of the Guards adherence to the old ways - othermajor units to which I was attached at the time all had tailors shops, but staffed by civilians. No doubt all units had their own regimental stitches in earlier times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FROGSMILE Posted 24 April , 2012 Share Posted 24 April , 2012 Tailors shops staffed by serving soldiers lasted until the 1970's at least in Guards battalions, the "Master Stitch" usually being a c/sgt. I remember seeing them sitting cross legged on top of their workbenches in the traditional tailor style. This was all probably indicative of the Guards adherence to the old ways - othermajor units to which I was attached at the time all had tailors shops, but staffed by civilians. No doubt all units had their own regimental stitches in earlier times. 1 RWF also had a battalion tailor throughout the 70s and 80s and I recall that he was not very Welsh, being from Cork! Nevertheless he was an important battalion personality and the QM gave him St Patrick's Day as a personal holiday each year. We all knew that the following day we could get no sense out of him at all and it usually took a couple more days before he could stitch straight. In part his continued employment was justified by the need to construct/make up the swallow tailed 'flash' of black ribbons for each and every tunic and mess jacket. There is a photo on the Edwardian period of the tailors of a household regiment busy sewing. They are wearing aprons and are in civilian clothes. Whether this was merely their working garb or whether civilian tailors were employed by the regiment is not stated. It was their working garb and military tailors were (and still are) part of the regimental establishment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FROGSMILE Posted 24 April , 2012 Share Posted 24 April , 2012 Here's some army tailors, the back mentions 3/11 Londons cheers, Steve. There is evidence that he is a tailor, as he has refashioned his chest pocket flaps to be scalloped as opposed to the 'issued' squared off style. Furthermore, his jacket appears suspiciously smooth, as if he has made it up using a superior grade of cloth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FROGSMILE Posted 24 April , 2012 Share Posted 24 April , 2012 Best I can do I'm afraid. It is not a Royal West Surrey's (Queen's) Regt badge, which was a Paschal Lamb and Flag. The shape is unusually circular, but as you intimated, it is a poor grade photo. It is possible, I suppose, that it is the Essex Regiment as per your man in the other post, but that is pure speculation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FROGSMILE Posted 24 April , 2012 Share Posted 24 April , 2012 My g/father was a fully accredited tailor in the RA and he became RSM but I would be certain that by then he didn't do any tailoring. I suspect it would have been to earn a little pocket money on the side.The certificate pasted in his records states that he had passed his examination áccording to the provisions of the regulations relating to master tailors and has been found qualified to perform the duties of a master tailor to a battery of artillery Thanks David, I had assumed that a battery would have had its own tailor, as it was the de facto equivalent, in establishment terms, of an infantry battalion and cavalry regiment, but it is interesting to have that assumption confirmed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRD Posted 26 April , 2012 Author Share Posted 26 April , 2012 Thank you for all of the information. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tipperary Posted 27 April , 2012 Share Posted 27 April , 2012 Thank you for all of the information. Hi SRD sorry for not getting back to you as i was in hospital a couple of days. The chap from royal west surreys also served in labour corps, i will search again later for you.john Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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